I'm Free - Free Walking Tour of The Rocks Sydney Reviews

This small walking tour company runs two walking tours in Sydney - both are free! One is a tour of the city operating at 10.30am and 2.30pm every day and runs for three hours. The other is the tour of the Rocks. Meet the tour guide in a green t-shirt at 6pm every day outside Cadman's Cottage at Circular Quay, just outside the Rocks district.

The Rocks is so-called because of the rocky area of land on which the precinct was built back in the 1800s. It was built by convincts who had been transported from Britain for various crimes such as theft and forgery. It had a reputation during the early years of the settlement as being a slum, frequented by prostitutes and drunkards. Many gangs operated within The Rocks.

Throughout it's history many of the buildings have been destroyed, such as when the Bubonic Plague broke out and the authorities pointed the finger at The Rocks as a potential spreading point for disease. In the 1960s and 70s the government had plans to demolish the area but the residents opposed it with the backing of the builders trade union. And thank God, because the Rocks, in my opinion may be the most beautiful part of Sydney, not to mention the most historic.

The tour guide leads you around the small enough area that is the Rocks during the tour, stopping frequently at points of interest and telling funny, historic and interesting stories.

The guide showed us all three of the pubs claiming to be Sydney's 'oldest', we got to see an archaelogical site which the YHA is built over and the tour ends on the spectacular Observatory Hill that offers breathtaking views of The Harbour Bridge and the surrounding suburbs.

The tour says 'free' but the tour guide asks that at the end of the tour you tip her what you thought the tour was worth, and it is definitely worth tipping her something.